On Healthcare Reform, Schumer Tells GOP: Get Over It

Now that the Supreme Court largely has upheld healthcare reform, a top Senate Democrat has a message to all of the law’s conservative opponents: Get over it. Problem is: the Republicans aren’t likely to listen.

After two years of fierce opposition and vitriol from the right regarding healthcare reform, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of most of the key aspects of the landmark 2010 law.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the third-highest-ranking Senate Democrat, says it’s time for the GOP to finally let go of the “Obamacare” boogeyman.

“This decision preserves not only the health care law, but also the Supreme Court’s position as an institution above politics. Just as Speaker Boehner vowed not to spike the football if the law was overturned, Republicans should not carry on out of pique now that the law has been upheld,” he says. “Democrats remain willing to cooperate on potential improvements to the law, but now that all three branches of government have ratified this law, the time for quarreling over its validity is over. Congress must now return its full-time focus to the issue that matters most to the public, and that is jobs.”

Congressional Democrats originally passed the reform bill over unanimous and acrimonious Republican opposition.

Republicans don’t seem willing to listen to Schumer, however. They reportedly already have lined up plans to pass another try at repeal, which House Republicans have repeatedly attempted since they took control of the chamber in 2011.

However, Senate Democrats aren’t likely to approve such a bill and, regardless, would undoubtedly fall victim to a presidential veto if it did.

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